Town hall estimates almost 50 acres were razed by Marbella fire last Thursday

Marbella town hall estimates that the fire which went up on scrubland near the Bello Horizonte development on Thursday night razed a total of 20 hectares (49 acres) of land.

Emergency services began receiving reports of smoke, that could be seen as far away as Puerto Banús, at around 8.20pm.

Forty homes were evacuated as a safety precaution as the fire blazed close to the AP-7 motorway.

According to Infoca, the body responsible for the control and prevention of forest fires, 70 firefighters were deployed to the site.

The warnings caused some of the locals to move their vehicles as a precaution, while others used their own hose pipes to dampen the dry grass around them to prevent the further spread of the flames.

Local Police officer Juan Carlos Bo Marilla, who was off duty at the time, told SUR: "I took the hose to wet the dry grass and contribute in whatever way I could."

One of those evacuated, Alejandro Pino, explained how he "took the dogs and fled", concerned about how the fire would develop.

At about 8am on Friday morning, Infoca announced that the fire was under control.